NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — Boston University’s College of Engineering yesterday said it will partner with German biotech Fraunhofer to develop microarrays for molecular diagnostic applications.
When it begins in January, the so-called BU-Fraunhofer Alliance for Medical Devices, Instrumentation and Diagnostics will be a 5-year, $5-million jointly funded initiative that will work with the school’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Andrew Sharon, director of the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing and Innovation, said the alliance will create disposable chips for molecular-level disease diagnosis.
The firm will fabricate DNA and peptide arrays and perform translational research with the medical school, Sharon said. “We are trying to develop new devices and methods that will accelerate the process of moving research to the medical application.”
Munich-based Fraunhofer is involved in various hi-tech research fields and several biomedical areas, including medical imaging and array-based diagnostics.